Track 4: Clubbing
Rukia pulled a black dress out of the cupboard and got changed right in front of Ichigo, who had dropped the clothes he was holding and stared at her. Rukia turned her back to Ichigo. "Zip me."
Ichigo's jaw dropped and he made a stupid noise.
"Zip me!" Rukia repeated.
Ichigo grabbed the zip and slowly drew it up. When the job was done, he snapped out of his strange phase and got dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt with an intricate pentagram design and the name 'Dimmu Borgir' printed in thin block letters within it.
The walk was soothing, the cold air of early night made their skin tingle and removed the stress of the past few days. It would feel good to unwind and relax for the first time this week.
The club loomed over them as they neared. It was a fortress full of drunks. A bouncer stood outside. Bouncer was the appropriate name for him as he was short and fat like a ball. He tried to look threatening but failed to do so. Another guard stepped outside and he was truly terrifying.
His face was covered in jagged cuts and his body was built like a tank. He crossed his arms and looked down at the two visitors. "Who're you?" He asked.
Ichigo tilted his head and said the first thing to come to mind. "Ichigo Kurosaki." The guard coughed.
"It's members only tonight. You aren't members...so piss off!"
Rukia turned to leave, but Ichigo grabbed her sleeve. "We aren't leaving! I'm not scared of you!"
"You know what happens to tough guys? They get beaten so bad that they are no longer tough!" The guard punched his other hand.
"What a threat...I'm shaking." Ichigo said sarcastically, though he really was shaking.
"You wanna go smart-ass?!" The guard stepped forward but froze immediately afterwards.
"Let them in, they're my friends!" The voice was familiar. Grimmjow placed a hand on the guards shoulder and gently shoved him back. He then held his hand flat out in front of him. Ichigo stared at his hand with s stupid face for several seconds before realising what it meant. He gave Grimmjow a high-five and then walked into the club.
As soon as the second door opened, an explosion of sound assaulted his ears. A live band was performing. The members all wore excessive amounts of eyeliner and were screaming about past loves. Ichigo walked past them and sat on an empty red lounge in the corner of the room. Grimmjow slid into the couch opposite and grinned widely.
"Nice place, huh?"
Ichigo nodded while looking around. Half naked women were dancing on a second stage. Ichigo failed to take his eyes off of them until someone slapped him. He turned to face Rukia's scowl. "oh, um...sorry."
"Never mind, that's the whole reason why they're up there!" Grimmjow waved the issue aside. "So is this all of you? I thought you'd have gotten some more members by now."
"Well, we have a guitarist and a possible synth player...why?" Ichigo asked simply.
"Because we're on in about twenty minutes." Grimmjow answered.
"On? On what?" Grimmjow sighed and pointed to the stage where the current band had left and a new group, fully clad in spiked armour and covered in bloodied corpse paint had taken the stage. "What? You booked us a gig?!"
"Yeah, I thought it would be a good way for us to get to know each other. Our first jam session is for all to see." Grimmjow scratched his blue hair.
"How the hell did you book it so fast?!" Ichigo asked, stunned. "We haven't even formed yet and you got us a gig-"
"Ichigo, this place has an open mic thing. You don't have to sell tickets or anything, you just have to turn up and play."
"But, we don't know anything!" Rukia yelled.
"What? Nothing? Not even a cover?!" Grimmjow shouted, increasingly agitated.
"Well, she can play a few Metallica songs, but I can't sing them." Ichigo answered for her.
"Well, can you play rhythm?" Ichigo shrugged. "Alright, I'll sing and do bass, Rukia will play lead and you go rhythm, got it?" The group nodded in unison. "We'll just keep that drummer onstage for our set."
"How long is our set?" Ichigo asked, fearing a long timeslot.
"An hour. But don't sweat, We'll just take turns doing solo acts, it'll be a piece of cake!" Grimmjow reassured them. "And then we can get hammered!" He pulled a longneck seemingly out of nowhere and downed the whole thing in a minute.
The black metallers on-stage were all playing at a speed which made it sound as if in fast forward. The drummer had red streaks in his hair which looked like blood-stains. His hands were moving too fast for the eye to see. The singer collapsed to his knees and screamed for what seemed like hours and the song ended, as well as their set.
"Show time!" Grimmjow showed the nervous couple backstage where equipment was stored.
Rukia picked up a glossy red ESP 'flying V' and strapped it to her chest. Ichigo picked up a black ESP Eclipse with a gold trim. He strummed several power chords as a warm up and then looked at Grimmjow.
"Hey, what am I supposed to do? I don't know any rhythm parts."
Grimmjow dropped the bass he was holding. "What?! You said you could do it!"
"Yeah, as in, I can if I knew what to play!" Ichigo yelled.
"Well...just...I don't know, follow along as best as you can! Now let's go!" Grimmjow picked up a black bass that had been used by the previous band. Red handprints were still on it.
"This is it!" Ichigo walked out onstage and stared at the many faces watching him, judging him. He turned around and made a high pitched squeal. "I'm out!" Grimmjow threw him up to the front of the stage and growled something that he couldn't hear.
The crowd went silent and Ichigo realised a mice was in front of him. "Hi." He waved. Grimmjow slapped himself in the face. "We are...um a...band from right here in Karakura. We are still getting set up, but here is a taste of what we do!" Ichigo stepped back and let Grimmjow approach the mic.
After a countdown from the crowd, they started, or at least Rukia and Grimmjow. Ichigo waited and listened to the song, identifying the main notes involved and doing the power chord variant. The crowd was impressed and were already cheering and raising devil horns. It was already two minutes into the song when Ichigo finally realised what he was playing. It was 'King Nothing'. He remembered the tune and started playing more confidently. Despite being totally unprepared, they were doing very well. By the end, the crowd were on their feet, screaming for more. Ichigo and Rukia went backstage while Grimmjow talked to the audience for a while.
"Hopefully, Grimmjow can waste enough time for us to only have to one more thing."
"I'll go next." Rukia muttered, slowly rehearsing her solo. Ichigo watched her fingers dance on along the neck. He was jealous. His growl would be on perfect form tonight, so he had to make the most of it.
"I have an idea for the finale! We'll need a drummer though." As if on cue, the black metal drummer walked in, searching for a bottle of water. Ichigo handed him one and asked him to join them for the end of the set. Fortunately, the man nodded in agreement. "You're on now I think." Ichigo said, noticing the loud cheers and applause.
Grimmjow came in with a broad smile on his face. "Good crowd out there!"
"That was really fast, what did you do?" Rukia asked.
"Oh, just an original thing I've been working on, it's not complete yet, that's why it was short. Good luck!" He high fived Rukia and watched her approach a stool onstage. She sat down and played a soft intro. After half a minute, she began to pluck a series of notes in quick succession, leading into a rough, thrash-styled section.
"Wait a minute! I know that song! It's Arsis 'We are the nightmare'!" Ichigo rushed out onstage and started screaming the second half of the first verse. The crowd looked around in confusion for a while but quickly accepted the vocals.
Grimmjow watched with a smile. "That kid can really scream..."
At the end of the song, the crowd roared as one, like a giant monster with hundreds of mouths. Ichigo went back behind the curtain with the others.
"Alright, it's the finale! We're gonna play 'Counterweight' by Heaven Shall Burn! Do you know it?" Ichigo asked his blue haired bass player. Grimmjow gave a thumbs up rather than say anything and the session drummer brushed back his long black locks. They all entered as one and went to their spots on the stage. The crowd went silent and waited.
The double pedals were extremely loud and made Ichigo's bones vibrate. Sweat was pouring down his face as he coped with doing the fast guitar-work as well as vocals. The crowd cheered louder and louder as the song went on, until it came to the chorus.
"YOU CANNOT SAVE ME! I AM THE COUNTERWEIGHT!" Ichigo waved his hand in a slow arc above his head as he repeated the line and the crowd did the same. The crowd sang the rest. It finally came to the instrumental outro. Ichigo spread his arms and ran to the front of the stage. It felt like a wonderful dream, the intense drums and the melodic guitar riffs, the screaming crowd...He felt drunk on his own power and dived for the crowd...
...Only to fall short and bang his face into the barrier fence.
The drums stopped and the guitars shrieked with feedback until they were turned off. The crowd gave off mixed emotions, some laughing, some gasping, some yelling for help.
"Ichigo!" Rukia jumped down to where Ichigo lay in a heap on the floor. "Oh my god! He's bleeding! Someone get help!!"
Ichigo groaned as he raised his head. His face was engraved with the grid pattern of the fence and it was bleeding in some places.
"Ichigo, what were you thinking?!" Rukia cradled him like a baby.
"I was...thinking...I was awesome!" He rasped slowly. Rukia smiled and hugged him. Grimmjow was now beside them and was helping the wounded singer to his feet. When he was standing up, the crowd cheered and raised their fists high.
"You alright, man? You got fucked up!" Grimmjow offered the orange haired fool an shoulder to lean on as they walked to their corner table. Grimmjow ordered drinks and band-aids. A young waitress came a short while later with the drinks and a small box of medical supplies. She also dropped off a piece of paper which Ichigo grabbed first. It read: 'Cindy' followed by a phone number and a smiley face. Ichigo grinned.
"My first groupie!!! It's finally happening!!" He raised a longneck and the trio made a toast to metal before sculling them all. They then patched up Ichigo's face. In the end, he only needed butterfly clips on both cheeks and his forehead, the rest were just impressions in his skin, not cuts. For three hours, they drank and joked, then Ichigo felt queasy and had to leave. The first gig was a success in one way and a disaster in the other, but it would not stop them. From now on, they would only rise higher and higher, until they were metal legends! Or lose their dignity trying...
Poor Ichigo, he got his ass kicked! Anyway, please review and tell me what you think so far! Also, if you have not heard the songs or bands I have mentioned, you should really check them out, they are the best of the best!